John: 00:00:00

If you've got real credentials, real expertise, and you still

2

: 00:00:04

can't get booked by the end of this

episode, you're going to know the

3

: 00:00:07

actual reason, and it might not be

the one that you're telling yourself.

4

: 00:00:11

Here's the problem.

5

: 00:00:12

You spend decades becoming

the best in your field.

6

: 00:00:15

You assume that would be enough.

7

: 00:00:18

It isn't, and nobody warned you

that it would be this hard or

8

: 00:00:22

told you why this is happening.

9

: 00:00:25

I work with a lot of second act speakers

hitting exactly this wall every week.

10

: 00:00:29

People whose credentials should open

doors and don't, and it traces back to

11

: 00:00:35

the same fixable causes almost every time.

12

: 00:00:39

So today I wanted to cover why

credentials don't book you the one

13

: 00:00:43

shift that separates speakers who get

rebooked from speakers who don't, and

14

: 00:00:48

a real example of a topic that kept

landing flat until that shift happened.

15

: 00:00:53

Welcome to Professional Speaking, the show

for people who are serious about speaking

16

: 00:00:57

and becoming known, booked, and paid.

17

: 00:00:59

My name's John Ball, professional

speaking coach, keynote speaker,

18

: 00:01:02

standup comedian, and sci-fi nerd.

19

: 00:01:05

I'm here as your guide on the journey

to a successful speaking career.

20

: 00:01:10

I want to start with the feeling

rather than the fix, because I think

21

: 00:01:14

the feeling is where most of you

probably find yourself right now.

22

: 00:01:18

You spend years, maybe even decades,

becoming genuinely excellent at something.

23

: 00:01:23

People came to you for answers.

24

: 00:01:25

You were the person in the room whose

opinion carried weight, whether that

25

: 00:01:30

was in a hospital or courtroom, an

engineering firm, a classroom, wherever

26

: 00:01:34

your first career happened to be.

27

: 00:01:37

And somewhere along the way you decided

that expertise was transferrable.

28

: 00:01:42

That if you'd earned that kind of

authority, once you'd earn again

29

: 00:01:46

on a stage and probably faster,

because this time you already

30

: 00:01:50

knew what you were talking about.

31

: 00:01:52

Then you actually tried it.

32

: 00:01:54

And the gap between I'm qualified

and I'm booked, turned out to be far

33

: 00:01:59

bigger and far more disorientating,

than anyone prepared you for.

34

: 00:02:04

nobody warned you that being right about

your subject and being wanted for your

35

: 00:02:08

subject of two completely different games.

36

: 00:02:12

So you're left with this quiet, creeping

conclusion that a lot of you have

37

: 00:02:16

probably had at three in the morning.

38

: 00:02:18

Maybe credentials aren't enough.

39

: 00:02:21

Maybe there's something else

that everyone else already

40

: 00:02:23

knows that you somehow missed.

41

: 00:02:26

So I want to tell you that

conclusion isn't wrong.

42

: 00:02:30

You are missing something.

43

: 00:02:31

It's just not what you

probably think it is.

44

: 00:02:34

It isn't talent, it isn't age.

45

: 00:02:37

It isn't the fact that you are

newer to this than people who've

46

: 00:02:40

been doing it for 20 years.

47

: 00:02:42

It's whether your talk is

informational or transformational.

48

: 00:02:48

And that one distinction explains

almost everything else that

49

: 00:02:51

we're about to talk about.

50

: 00:02:54

before I get into that distinction

properly, I want to quickly deal with

51

: 00:02:57

the three things most of you have already

tried, because I hear these constantly in

52

: 00:03:02

conversations with speakers just like you.

53

: 00:03:04

The first is networking.

54

: 00:03:06

The assumption that if you meet enough

people, get in enough rooms, shake enough

55

: 00:03:10

hands, the bookings will follow because

that's how your old career worked.

56

: 00:03:15

The trouble is that relationships

without positioning don't convert.

57

: 00:03:19

You can know the right person and

still not be booked because knowing

58

: 00:03:23

you isn't the same as understanding

what specific problem you solve.

59

: 00:03:29

The second is free or paid stages.

60

: 00:03:32

The logic here is that

visibility equals progress.

61

: 00:03:36

So the more rooms you speak in, the more

inevitable the paid bookings become.

62

: 00:03:41

Visibility though isn't the same as

being understood as a need to have.

63

: 00:03:46

You can speak in front of 500 people

and still walk off stage as forgettable.

64

: 00:03:51

Interesting, nice but not necessary.

65

: 00:03:54

The third is reworking the talk itself,

better slides tied to delivery, more

66

: 00:04:00

rehearsal, all useful, but none of

that fixes a badly translated problem.

67

: 00:04:06

A well delivered version of the wrong

message is still the wrong message.

68

: 00:04:11

Here's the actual distinction though.

69

: 00:04:13

An informal talk leaves an audience

knowing more than they did before.

70

: 00:04:16

A transformational talk leaves

them thinking, feeling or doing

71

: 00:04:20

something differently, and

that's the whole difference.

72

: 00:04:23

And it sounds simple, but almost nobody

in a second act gets it right the first

73

: 00:04:28

time around because the instinct that made

you valuable in your old career is exactly

74

: 00:04:33

the instinct that works against you.

75

: 00:04:35

Here.

76

: 00:04:35

You were valuable because you knew

things, you shared what you knew.

77

: 00:04:40

That instinct carries straight

into speaking and it produces talks

78

: 00:04:44

that inform rather than change.

79

: 00:04:47

There are two families of, trapped

underneath that distinction.

80

: 00:04:52

The first is about content talks

that inform instead of transform.

81

: 00:04:56

The second is about structure talks

that might have the right content

82

: 00:05:00

but collapse because of how they're

built or who they're actually about.

83

: 00:05:05

The most common one, and the one I

want to probably spend most of the time

84

: 00:05:08

on really, is the book report Trap.

85

: 00:05:10

This is turning your keynote into the

TLDR version of your book or your thesis.

86

: 00:05:16

You've written the book, you spent years

building the argument, and the talk

87

: 00:05:20

becomes a summary delivery mechanism.

88

: 00:05:23

You walk the audience through

your framework, the way you'd

89

: 00:05:25

walk a reader through a chapter.

90

: 00:05:28

The problem is that the audience

leaves with the Cliffs Notes version

91

: 00:05:31

of something that they could have read

for themselves, and they leave with

92

: 00:05:35

information, not with transformation.

93

: 00:05:38

If your keynote could be replaced by

someone skimming your introduction

94

: 00:05:42

chapter or a quick search on

chat, GPT, you're in this trap.

95

: 00:05:47

I've encountered this with a

number of second act speakers who

96

: 00:05:49

fall into this trap because they

want to deliver so much value.

97

: 00:05:53

They have the expertise and they

want to share as much of it as

98

: 00:05:56

possible in a very short time.

99

: 00:05:58

So having that book done,

having that expertise there,

100

: 00:06:00

you want to transfer that.

101

: 00:06:02

You almost want to do a download

dump into your audience's

102

: 00:06:06

brains, but it doesn't work.

103

: 00:06:08

It's not an effective keynote and can

end up preventing you from being able to

104

: 00:06:13

book consulting or workshops or anything

else that you might want to add on.

105

: 00:06:17

When everything feels like it's already

been delivered in that one keynote,

106

: 00:06:20

which is probably going to run way longer

than the average 45 minute keynote.

107

: 00:06:26

And it's probably also going to

overload and overwhelm your audience,

108

: 00:06:30

making them unlikely to tell you that.

109

: 00:06:33

They'll tell you what value

they've got from it, but they're

110

: 00:06:36

gonna walk away forgetting most

of what you ever talked about.

111

: 00:06:40

Now there's also the professor trap

defaulting into the college lecturer mode.

112

: 00:06:44

Comprehensive, structured,

credentialed, thorough.

113

: 00:06:48

It's the instinct of someone who

spent an entire career being right,

114

: 00:06:51

being your authority in the room,

and it shows up as a talk that covers

115

: 00:06:55

everything rather than moving anything.

116

: 00:06:58

Here's the uncomfortable

truth about that one.

117

: 00:07:00

Audiences don't book professors.

118

: 00:07:02

They book people who move them.

119

: 00:07:04

And lecturing is almost the exact opposite

of moving someone the data trap as well.

120

: 00:07:10

Believing that the case

is made by the numbers.

121

: 00:07:13

So you load a talk with statistics,

charts proof data supports a

122

: 00:07:17

transformation, it doesn't cause one.

123

: 00:07:20

You can convince an audience with data

and still not have changed anything

124

: 00:07:24

about how they think, feel, or act.

125

: 00:07:26

They leave more informed and

exactly a static as they.

126

: 00:07:30

there are also structural

traps, and the first is what

127

: 00:07:32

I'd call the winging it trap.

128

: 00:07:34

This is the speaker who knows their

material so well has lived it for

129

: 00:07:38

decades, that they decide that they

don't need a script or a build.

130

: 00:07:42

They'll just read a room and improvise.

131

: 00:07:45

Now, here's the problem.

132

: 00:07:46

Expertise gives you confidence

but not structure, and those

133

: 00:07:49

are not the same thing.

134

: 00:07:51

An unstructured, un formatted talk,

however knowledgeable the person giving

135

: 00:07:55

it is leaves an audience with no through

line to hold onto and no clear moment

136

: 00:08:00

where something actually shifted.

137

: 00:08:02

Riffing works in comedy clubs because

the form itself allows for it.

138

: 00:08:07

A keynote isn't that form.

139

: 00:08:09

Without a build, even brilliant

material just becomes an

140

: 00:08:12

impressive sounding wonder.

141

: 00:08:16

This really is then about being

able to make an impact through

142

: 00:08:20

things that are practised.

143

: 00:08:21

Even polished, well timed, rehearsed

to a point of being able to riff

144

: 00:08:26

within that framework, within the.

145

: 00:08:29

Confines of what a

keynote is supposed to be.

146

: 00:08:31

You might be able to deliver a perfectly

acceptable winging it, improvised

147

: 00:08:36

talk with your expertise, but you're

not going to ever be able to deliver

148

: 00:08:40

something that's super polished, has

hidden nuances in it, and connects

149

: 00:08:45

on those deeper levels as you could

do with a fully formed keynote.

150

: 00:08:49

The second is potentially the

memoir trap, the making the keynote

151

: 00:08:54

all about you, your journey, your

career, your experience, your story.

152

: 00:08:58

This one is sneaky because it often feels

the most authentic to the speaker and can

153

: 00:09:03

genuinely land emotionally in the room.

154

: 00:09:05

But if the talk is a monologue

more about what happened to you

155

: 00:09:09

rather than a translation into

what changes for them, you've built

156

: 00:09:13

something moving for you to deliver

and forgettable for them to act on.

157

: 00:09:19

Your story is allowed to be in

the talk, but it's not allowed

158

: 00:09:22

to be the point of the talk.

159

: 00:09:25

Here's why this matters commercially

informational content in any

160

: 00:09:29

of these three costumes reads

to a booker as nice to have.

161

: 00:09:33

Interesting.

162

: 00:09:34

Sure.

163

: 00:09:35

Forgettable also, sure unstructured or

self-focused delivery undermines the

164

: 00:09:41

case just as badly, even with strong

content underneath because the audience

165

: 00:09:46

can't locate the transformation even if

it is technically in there somewhere.

166

: 00:09:51

This ties back to something I

talk about a lot on this show.

167

: 00:09:54

The test isn't whether

your topic is valuable.

168

: 00:09:56

It's whether the person doing

the booking would lose any sleep

169

: 00:09:59

over the problem that you solve.

170

: 00:10:01

Describe the way that they

describe it, not the way you'd

171

: 00:10:05

describe it as the expert.

172

: 00:10:07

So take a topic like how

you show up as a leader.

173

: 00:10:10

The emotional self at

work, framed the way.

174

: 00:10:14

Personal development usually frames it.

175

: 00:10:16

This becomes emotional mastery.

176

: 00:10:19

And that phrase alone will lose a lot of

corporate buyers before you've even said

177

: 00:10:23

anything else, because it sounds like

that inner word, like you're gonna make

178

: 00:10:26

us talk about our emotions, aren't you?

179

: 00:10:28

Not business outcomes.

180

: 00:10:30

And A booker isn't paying

you to run a retreat.

181

: 00:10:33

So here's the translation.

182

: 00:10:35

Don't sell emotional mastery.

183

: 00:10:37

Sell what?

184

: 00:10:38

Its absence costs the business.

185

: 00:10:41

A leader who shows up defensively,

who leads from the need to establish

186

: 00:10:45

authority rather than the desire for

growth produces specific countable damage.

187

: 00:10:51

People stop bringing them problems early.

188

: 00:10:53

Disengagement creeps in.

189

: 00:10:55

Good people quietly leave.

190

: 00:10:57

That's not an abstract personal

development idea anymore.

191

: 00:11:00

That's churn turnover,

that's lost productivity.

192

: 00:11:03

That's the expensive stuff a

booker already loses sleepover.

193

: 00:11:08

So now flip it.

194

: 00:11:09

A leader who shows up openly

without judgement oriented toward

195

: 00:11:12

growth rather than authority is

functionally a servant leader.

196

: 00:11:17

And the research and the outcomes

on that style are well established.

197

: 00:11:20

It attracts loyalty, it attracts

talent because people can feel the

198

: 00:11:25

difference in how they're being led.

199

: 00:11:26

It reduces churn, increases

productivity because the team is

200

: 00:11:30

more fulfilled and less guarded.

201

: 00:11:33

Same underlying subject

as emotional mastery.

202

: 00:11:36

It's the same thing, completely different

door, because now it's framed, positioned

203

: 00:11:41

as a business cost and a business return

rather than an inner work concept.

204

: 00:11:48

So that's the whole exercise in miniature.

205

: 00:11:50

Nothing about the content changed.

206

: 00:11:52

What changed is that the pitch stopped

being about the speakers inner world and

207

: 00:11:57

started being about the audiences bottom.

208

: 00:12:00

Here's where I want to leave

you, and I want to add one

209

: 00:12:03

thing before the usual close.

210

: 00:12:05

none of what I've described

today, requires you to become

211

: 00:12:07

the world's greatest show person.

212

: 00:12:10

I want to be really clear about that

because I think a lot of second next

213

: 00:12:13

speakers here transformational and

quietly translate it as to I need to

214

: 00:12:18

become a natural born entertainer, or

the next Tony Robbins, and that's not it.

215

: 00:12:23

Some of the worst keynotes I've seen in my

life have come from famous, notable people

216

: 00:12:28

who get booked purely on name recognition

and never had to learn any of this.

217

: 00:12:33

That's a different game built on fame,

not skill, and it's not available to you.

218

: 00:12:38

So it is not a useful

yardstick either way.

219

: 00:12:41

What you actually need is structure

and translation, which are learnable,

220

: 00:12:45

teachable, buildable skills,

not a personality transplant.

221

: 00:12:49

This is more about turning up the

dials of what you already have

222

: 00:12:54

than trying to change you into

someone who you are not already.

223

: 00:12:58

Your credentials made you an expert.

224

: 00:13:01

Your book, your data, your

slides, your story, none of that

225

: 00:13:04

on its own makes you booked.

226

: 00:13:06

What gets you booked is whether the

audience changes because they were in

227

: 00:13:09

the room, and whether they can feel the

shape of that change as it happens, not

228

: 00:13:14

whether you are the most charismatic

person ever to hold the microphone.

229

: 00:13:18

So this week, write the sentence

a booker would use to describe the

230

: 00:13:22

problem you solve in their words.

231

: 00:13:24

Then check your current

talk against all five traps.

232

: 00:13:28

The book report, the professor, the data,

the winging it memoir, and be honest

233

: 00:13:33

about which one it's actually built on.

234

: 00:13:36

Naming it is most of the fix.

235

: 00:13:39

Now a quick reminder before I go,

the September cohort of known, booked

236

: 00:13:42

and paid blueprint is what today's

episode has been circling the whole

237

: 00:13:46

way through the positioning work that

turns exactly this kind of translation

238

: 00:13:50

into a bookable, repeatable offer.

239

: 00:13:52

you'll heard more on that before

the episode started today.

240

: 00:13:54

So I won't repeat the pitch,

but just don't sit on it.

241

: 00:13:58

If you are nodding along today

and thinking, yeah, this is me.

242

: 00:14:00

I need help with this.

243

: 00:14:03

Now, if joining a programme isn't

really where you are at right now,

244

: 00:14:06

you might want to at least check

out the free positioning tool.

245

: 00:14:08

I'll have the link for that in the

show notes, and that will help you

246

: 00:14:11

to see more clearly whether you

are positioned as a nice to have or

247

: 00:14:16

whether you are a must book speaker.

248

: 00:14:19

For now, go and do something worth

talking about and I'll see you next time

249

: 00:14:23

for my interview with Owen Fitzpatrick.

250

: 00:14:25

Don't miss it.